Bar scraper and mud drag

ABSTRACT

A bar scraper and mud drag particularly adpated to be used for scraping, cleaning and filling the bed of a water course having a heavy press plate member with a scraping and cutting bar on its underside and control cables or chains, including a drag line and lifting line, for tilting the apparatus onto its scraper and cutting bar.

United States Patent 1191 Moak [ 51 Jan. 1, 1974 1 BAR SCRAPER AND MUD DRAG [76] Inventor: Mervin S. Moak, 6189 N. Libby,

Paradise, Calif. 95969 22 Filed: June 29,1971

211 Appl.No.: 157,924

[52] U.S. Cl. l72/26.5, 37/135 [51] Int. Cl. E02f 3/60 [58] Field of Search 172/26.5, 26.6; 37/135, 136

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,183,750 5/1916 Mitchell 35/135 1,031,035 7/1912 Allen l72/26.6

2,669,042 2/1954 Swank... 37/135 X 1,014,293 1/1912 Gade 35/135 868,595 10/1907 Chunnon 37/135 2,886,905 5/1959 Baylcs .1 37/135 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 763,082 12/1956 Great Britain 37/135 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Attorney-Ernest L. Brown [57] ABSTRACT A bar scraper and mud drag particularly adpated to be used for scraping, cleaning and filling the bed of a water course having a heavy press plate member with a scraping and cutting bar on its underside and control cables or chains, including a drag line and lifting line, for tilting the apparatus onto its scraper and cutting bar.

24 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATEHTEU 1 4 SHEET 1 BF 3 \NVENTOR.

MEQWN S. MQAK BAR SCRAPER AND MUD DRAG BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is informative to reference several United States patents which describe the prior art.

US. Pat. No. 722,595 describes and shows a scoop with a pivoted bail which is adapted to descend into the water when pulled forward and to operate in the bed to loosen and remove portions of the mud and sand. Two cables are attached, respectively, to the rear and front sides of the scoop so that a pull upon the forward cable causes the scoop to descend into the water in an inclined forward direction, and a pull upon the rear cable causes the scoop to ascend in an inclined rearward direction.

US. Pat. No. 2,482,320 is for a drag scraper which is pivoted to a bail, has a single drag line, and it has teeth on a scraper bar. The apparatus rides on the blade, and the weight of the blade forces the scraper into the earth.

US. Pat. No. 2,683,942 is fora drag scraper having a removable blade. The attachment bolts are positioned in a manner whereby the weight of the scraper tightens the bolts. The apparatus also has a drag bar which is forced into the ground by the weight of the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The bar scraper and mud drag of this invention comprises an elongated scoop adapted to ride on one edge and having a scraper or cutting blade on its lower edge. The scraper or cutting blade may, if desired, be replaceable. A press plate is positioned behind the scoop and, when not lifted, contacts the ground. The apparatus preferably has reinforcing members positioned between the press plate and the scoop to reinforce the scoop and to carry the weight of the apparatus to the press plate.

A pair of substantially identical push handles are pivotally attached near the two ends of the apparatus behind and near the scraper, each curving upward and forward like a hook from the vicinity of the joining of the bar scraper and the press plate. The upper ends of the two push handles are attached together and to a drag line from which motive force is received. When there is no lifting of the apparatus, the center of gravity is behind the point of pivotal attachment of the push handles so that the press plate rests heavily upon the stream bed.

Lifting cables or chains are attached near the ends of the top of the scoop. Each of the cables threads through a separate opening in eachof the push handles, respectively, and the cables are attached together by a sling to a single lifting cable. The openings in the push handles are preferably rounded or contain rollers for allowing free sliding or rolling of the cables.

Relaxing of the lifting cables causes the press plate to slide along the ground when the drag line is pulled. Should the scraping or cutting bar or the scoop engage an object that will not move, continued pulling upon the drag line causes the push handles to pivot forward, contacting the back of the scoop and tipping the apparatus forward just far enough to cause it to ride over the immovable object.

Tension on the lifting cables or chains causes the push handles to be drawn toward the top of the scoop. When the push handles are drawn as close as possible toward the top of the scoop, continued tension on the lifting cables or chains tilts the apparatus forward onto its scraping or cutting bar. Pulling upon the drag line then causes the apparatus to move forward balanced upon its scraping or cutting bar and oscillating slightly back and forth. The oscillations occur because of the conditionally stable position of the apparatus and because the lifting cables or chains allow such oscillations.

When it is desired to position the push handles next to the scoop without lifting the lifting cables or chains so that drag on the drag cable always tilts the apparatus foward, the push handles and scoop may be fixedly attached together, for example, by a pair of loops on the handles and a pair of loops on the top of the scoop, the loops in the handles and the loops on the scoop being attached together by a bolt or the like.

As the apparatus moves forward, mud and debris are held by the scoop. The scraper or cutter scrapes the bed of the water course and cuts off weeds and tules. When the press plate is settled on the bed of the stream bottom, it presses down the mud and packs it into holes, whereby holes and undercuts are filled by crushing of their banks and by being cut off by the scraper.

It is therefore an object of this invention to press mud and earth.

It is another object of this invention to scrape earth and mud.

It is still another object of this invention to scoop earth and mud.

It is yet another object of this invention to press, scrap and/or scoop material other than earth or mud.

It is likewise an object of this invention to smooth and clean stream beds.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide apparatus which is adapted to achieve the aboveenumerated objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an oblique view of the apparatus of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view, partly in section, taken at 22 in FIG. 1, showing the press plate pressing against a stream bed;

FIG. 3 is a view, partly in section, taken at 2--2 in FIG. 1, showing the apparatus contacting its tipped position with its bar scraper or cutter tontacting the ground and the apparatus supported upon the scraper;

FIG. 4 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 taken from the front;

FIG. 5 is a view of an alternative means for snubbing' the lifting line on a push handle of the apparatus; and FIG. 6 is a view, partly in section, taken at 6-6 in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4. The apparatus of the invention has an elongated scoop 10 which is turned on its side and has a scraper blade 13 on its lower edge. The scraper blade 13 may, if desired, be replaceable as shown particularly in FIG. 4. A press plate 14 is positioned behind the scope wall 12 and, when not deliberately lifted, contacts the ground. Reinforcing plates 18,

20, 22, 24, 26 and end plates 16 and 28 are positioned between the press plate 14 and the scoop wall 12 to reinforce the scoop and to carry the weight of the apparatus to the press plate 14.

The wall 12 of the scoop 10 is perforated, for example, with holes such as 15, 17, 19 and 21 to allow free flow of water through the wall 12.

A pair of substantially identical push handles 30 and 32 are pivotally attached at 34 and 36 near the two ends of the apparatus.

The push handles 30 and 32 curve upward at 38, 40 and forward at 42, 44, like a hook from the vicinity 46 of the joining of the bar scraper 12 and the raised portion 48 of the press plate 14. The upper ends 42, 44 of the push handles 30, 32 are attached together with a bracket 50 and to a drag line 52.

The removable blade 13 is attached to the scoop 10 on one edge thereof by a plurality of bolts 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55.

Lifting chains or cables 54, 56 are attached at 58, 60 near the ends of the top of the scoop 10. Each of the chains or cables 54, 56 threads through a separate opening 62, 64 in each of the push handles 30, 32, respectively. In a preferred embodiment the cables 54, 56 thread over rollers or pulleys 66, 68. In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIGS. and 6, the cables slide over the rounded edges 70, 72 of the hole 62. Either the rollers or the rounded edges allow free sliding or rolling of the chains or cables.

The chains 54, 56 extend upward from the openings 62, 64. In the shown embodiment they are maintained vertical by a spacing bar 76. The chains then come together at 78 where they are attached to a lifting line 80.

With the lifting lines 54, 56 relaxed, as shown in FIG. 2, the press plate 14 rests upon the streambed. Pull on the drag line 52 is transmitted through the elements 44, 40, 32 and 42, 38, 30 to the pivots 34, 36 where the force is applied to the apparatus of this invention. In this mode of operation the center of gravity is well aft of the line of pivots 34, 36 so that the position is stable.

With the lifting line 80 taut, as shown in FIG. 3, the push handles 30, 32 are pulled toward the chain anchors 58, 60. When the push handles reach a position near the anchors 58, 60 further pulling of the lifting cables 54, 56 causes the entire apparatus to tilt forward onto the scraper blade 12.

In one mode of operation it is desirable that the apparatus be maintained in the position of FIG. 3. To hold that position, an attaching means 100 is optionally provided. The attaching means 100 is shown in FIG. 3 attached. An earl02 on the back of the scoop and an ear 104 on the handle portion 40 are shown with holes therein in register. A bolt 106 is positioned in the ears 102 and 104 to hold the pieces of handle 32 in the position shown. It must be stressed that ordinarily the bolt 106 is not attached. Attaching means 108, similar to attaching means 100, is used to attach handle 30 to scoop 10.

In the position of FIG. 2, the entire apparatus is dragged along the streambed. In the shown position the apparatus is dragged down the bank of the streambed, compressing mud as it moves. Any holes or undercuts of the bank are crushed by the weight of the apparatus. If the scoop 10 encounters a heavy object, such as a block of cement, which is too heavy to be moved, the scoop tilts forward and rides over the object. However, an optional chain 110 may be attached between the cable 52 and a fish plate 112 to carry excess pulling load, thereby preventing over stress of the push handles 30, 32. The fish plate 1 12 is firmly attached to the back wall 12 of the scoop 10.

In the position of FIG. 3, the blade 12 scrapes the bottom of the streambed. The cutter 13 cuts weeds, channeling the cut weeds and other debris into the scoop 10. It also cuts high spots on the streambed, pushing loose mud into undercuts and holes.

In the position of FIG. 3, with the locks and 108 unlocked, the apparatus oscillates or rocks back and forth, upon the blade 13, thereby facilitating the cutting of weeds.

When the apparatus is locked into the position of FIG. 3 by the locks 100 and 108, force is transmitted to the scoop through the locks, whereby pull on the drag line 52 does not cause oscillation of the apparatus on the blade 13. This mode of operation is effective when, for example, tules or other very tough grass needs to be cut.

The apparatus of this invention may be made lighter than prior apparatus, whereby the pan of the streambed remains uncut by the blade 13.

It has also been found that smaller drag and lifting forces are required for this apparatus than for prior apparatus, whereby energy is saved and smaller cables are required.

Although the invention has been described in detail above, it is not intended that the invention shall be limited by that description, but only in accordance with the spirit and scope of that description when taken with the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In combination:

an elongated scoop having a scraper blade on one edge;

a press plate, positioned behind and rigidly attached to said scoop;

a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots above said press plate, behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivot and having openings formed therein;

a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top ofsaid scoop adjacent said handles, extending throughsaid openings in said handles, thence upward.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising means for rigidly fastening said press plate, said scoop and said push handles together in a predetermined position such that pull upon said drag means tips said apparatus onto said scraper blade.

3. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which said lifting lines are chains.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 4 in which said lifting lines are chains.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.

7. Apparatus as recited in claim 6 in which said lifting lines are chains.

8. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising a separating bar maintaining separation between said lifting lines, and a sling attached to said lifting lines above said bar.

9. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which said scoop is perforated.

10. In combination:

an elongated scoop;

a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said scoop about pivots behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity thereof, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivots and having openings formed therein;

a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through openings in said handles, thence upward.

11. Apparatus as recited in claim in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.

12. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.

13. In a bar scraper and mud drag apparatus having an elongated scoop, a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivots, the improvement comprising:

openings formed in said handles;

a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through said openings in said handles, thence upward.

14. Apparatus as recited in claim 13 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.

15. Apparatus as recited in claim 13 and further comprising rollers positioned in said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.

16. In combination:

an elongated scoop having a scraper blade on one edge;

a press plate, positioned behind and rigidly attached to said scoop;

drag means for dragging said apparatus, comprising a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots above said press plate, behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward 8nd forward from said pivot and having openings formed therein;

lifting means for lifting said press plate and tilting said apparatus onto said scraper blade, comprising a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through said openings in said handles, thence upward.

17. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising means for fastening said press plate and said scoop rigidly together in a predetermined position such that pull upon said drag means tips said apparatus onto said scraper blade.

18. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which said lifting lines are chains.

19. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.

20. Apparatus as recited in claim 19 in which said lifting lines are chains.

21. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.

22. Apparatus as recited in claim 21 in which said lifting lines are chains.

23. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising a separating bar maintaining separation between said lifting lines, and a sling attached to said lifting lines above said bar.

24. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which said scoop is perforated. 

1. In combination: an elongated scoop having a scraper blade on one edge; a press plate, positioned behind and rigidly attached to said scoop; a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots above said press plate, behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivot and having openings formed therein; a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through said openings in said handles, thence upward.
 2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising means for rigidly fastening said press plate, said scoop and said push handles together in a predetermined position such that pull upon said drag means tips said apparatus onto said scraper blade.
 3. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 4. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.
 5. Apparatus as recited in claim 4 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 6. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.
 7. Apparatus as recited in claim 6 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 8. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 and further comprising a separating bar maintaining separation between said lifting lines, and a sling attached to said lifting lines above said bar.
 9. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 in which said scoop is perforated.
 10. In combination: an elongated scoop; a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said scoop about pivots behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity thereof, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivots and having openings formed therein; a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through openings in said handles, thence upward.
 11. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.
 12. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.
 13. In a bar scraper and mud drag apparatus having an elongated scoop, a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivots, the improvement comprising: openings formed in said handles; a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handles, extending through said openings in said handles, thence upward.
 14. Apparatus as recited in claim 13 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.
 15. Apparatus as recited in claim 13 and further comprising rollers positioned in said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.
 16. In combination: an elongated scoop having a scraper blade on one edge; a press plate, positioned behind and rigidly attached to said scoop; drag means for dragging said apparatus, comprising a pair of push handles, pivoted relative to said apparatus about pivots above said press plate, behind said scoop and forward of the center of gravity of said apparatus, said handles curving upward and forward from said pivot and having openings formed therein; lifting means for lifting said press plate and tilting said apparatus onto said scraper blade, comprising a pair of lifting lines, anchored to the top of said scoop adjacent said handLes, extending through said openings in said handles, thence upward.
 17. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising means for fastening said press plate and said scoop rigidly together in a predetermined position such that pull upon said drag means tips said apparatus onto said scraper blade.
 18. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 19. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which the edges of said openings are rounded to allow free sliding of said lifting lines.
 20. Apparatus as recited in claim 19 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 21. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising rollers positioned within said openings, said lifting lines engaging said rollers.
 22. Apparatus as recited in claim 21 in which said lifting lines are chains.
 23. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 and further comprising a separating bar maintaining separation between said lifting lines, and a sling attached to said lifting lines above said bar.
 24. Apparatus as recited in claim 16 in which said scoop is perforated. 